


Move-in Day

by Richie Rose (richtherose)



Series: Home [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Series, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-21 14:14:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15559518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/richtherose/pseuds/Richie%20Rose
Summary: Four boys of very different personalities and walks of life are put into a shared space, with a new independence and a looming stress of classes put upon them. Perhaps they will find that they have more in common than they thought, and learn to appreciate the differences. And perhaps these broken boys can find a family and a love in each other.First part of what is going to be my "Home" series, a college roommate au: Their first introductions and the panic and thrill of living in a new place with new people.





	1. Afraid

Today was the day. The day that he’d been dreading but also looking forward to. So much was going to change, and his heart started racing just thinking about it.

“Virge? You ready?” Thomas had opened the bedroom door and peeked his head in without Virgil even realizing.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I don’t have much anyways…” Virgil mumbled, standing and grabbing his backpack and duffle bag.

Thomas stared at him with a knowing look. “You’re worrying about it, aren’t you?”

Virgil looked away from his friend’s gaze for a moment. “Well, I mean,” he hesitated, taking a breath. “It is a big change.”

Thomas took Virgil’s hand in his. “You’re going to be fine. I’ll only be a couple hours away, you can take a bus if you ever need to come see me. Or call me, and I’ll do whatever I can. And besides, maybe you’ll really like your roommates!” He squeezed Virgil’s hand reassuringly, continuing on before Virgil can respond. “Mom is starting to get impatient, so we’d better go.”

Virgil huffed, following Thomas out of the room, pausing to look back one more time.

He hadn’t been there long, only a few months, but it still had started to feel like home. He was going to miss Thomas and his family, and how welcome he’d felt in this home. Especially after…

Virgil shook his head, continuing to follow Thomas to the car. He put his duffle bag on the floor in front of him and sat in the back, resting his book bag on his lap. Thomas sat in the back with him while Thomas’ mom was in the driver’s seat. Thomas’ dad waved them off before going back inside.

“So, how are ya feeling?” Thomas’ mom asked after a few minutes of driving in silence, glancing backwards for a moment.

Virgil shrugged before realizing she couldn’t see, clearing his throat. “Uh, okay, I guess. A little nervous, maybe.”

His mom nodded in understanding, “I remember how scary going off on my own for the first time felt.” She was quiet for a moment, as if she was thinking what to say. “And I know that… It’s a lot, with your parents and all. But you can always come to us if you need to. Our door is open for whatever reason; if you just want to visit, that’s fine. You’re part of the family now.”

Virgil smiled weakly at her as she gazed back in the rearview mirror at him, blinking back tears that were forming in his eyes. “Thanks, Mrs. Sanders, I really appreciate it, and everything you’ve done for me.”

She waved it off with a hand gesture. “It’s the least we could do.”

Virgil met Thomas’ smile, and had to look away because it was just too much. He didn’t want to leave.

 

A couple hours later, they were parked in front of a dorm building. Thomas and his mom both got out of the car with Virgil, rounding the car to meet him. Virgil hugged Mrs. Sanders first, his heart turning as she rubbed his back for a moment. After she let go, Thomas quickly took her place, his head pressed against Virgil’s chest as he stood to his full height from the surprise. Thomas squeezed his arms around Virgil’s waist, attempting to lift him up. It worked about an inch before Virgil wobbled and Thomas had to set him back down. Virgil couldn’t help but laugh, hugging Thomas back before they eventually let go. Virgil kept trying not to show emotion, but Thomas wasn’t holding back his tears.

“I’m gonna miss you, buddy.”

Virgil shook his head, blinking furiously. “It’s gonna be quiet in there without me brooding with my headphones, right?”

“Sure is.” Thomas looked up at the dorm building momentarily before setting his gaze back on Virgil. “Do you want us to walk you up?”

“Nah,” Virgil said, shaking his head. He gestured to his duffle bag. “This is all I got, so I’ll be fine. I’m probably just gonna try to avoid talking to anyone for the time being.”

Thomas laughed, wiping his eyes. “Try and make friends, okay?”

“No promises,” Virgil said with a smirk.

He watched as the two got back in the car, waving as they began driving away. Then, he turned back and took a breath. He walked in.

 

Virgil walked down the hall after climbing three flights of stairs, searching for his dorm room. 325, 326, 327... 328. Virgil took the key that he’d been given by the check in volunteers and unlocked the door. He found a boy already in there, moving a couple of boxes into his room. He slowly shut the door, and the bespeckled boy looked up.

“Hello, I assume that you are one of my new roommates?” he asked, outstretching his hand to Virgil.

Virgil shook it awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I’m Virgil.”

“Logan, nice to meet you.” He then turned back to what he was doing, so Virgil took the opportunity to duck into the other room.

He guessed that he was second to arrive, so he went ahead and claimed one of the beds in the corner of the room, setting his stuff on one of the desks as he walked in. He didn’t like how the beds were set so they could just look at each other from across the room, so he pushed the small square dresser out, moving the bed to the center of the wall. It took a little security away, since now three sides of it were open, but he could always get curtains or sheets to cover it. And now he wouldn’t have to worry about having him and his roommate accidentally staring at each other. He moved the dresser to the corner where the bed had been. There was another on the other side of his bed, so he figured that this one could be his roommate’s.

Just as he was about to go get his stuff, he heard the front door open again, followed by an enthusiastic cheer. He poked his head out to see a small boy shaking Logan’s hand with a lot of vigor, which seemed to stun Logan. Virgil choked back a laugh at the look on his face.

“Hi, I’m Patton, you must be my new roommate! Can I take this room?” Patton said in a rush, pointing to the room Logan had been moving into.

“Uh, I’m Logan, and I suppose, it’s just me in there curren-”

“Yay!” Patton leaped up, bouncing out the door only to come back in holding a box and being followed by two women, who were also carrying boxes. Logan just went back to the kitchen, where he was putting away dishes. Patton came back out after dropping the box in the room, spotting Virgil.

He was over there before Virgil could duck out, staring up at him with wide, sparkling dark brown eyes.

“Hi, I’m Patton!”

Virgil had to suppress a smile as he stared down at the short boy. “Virgil.”

Patton’s face split into a grin, “Ooo, that’s a cool name!”

“It’s like the guide in Dante’s Inferno,” Logan added, looking a little surprised at himself that he spoke up. He cleared his throat. “It’s a good read.”

Virgil smirked, leaning against the doorframe. “Yeah, never heard that one before. English sucked ass those couple of weeks, the teacher kept trying to make me read it aloud since I shared the name.”

“Patton? Do you want to start unpacking while we get the last couple boxes?” One of the women asked as they came out of the bedroom.

Patton nodded, “Yeah, of course!” He turned back to Virgil. “I hope we become the best of friends!”

Virgil blinked in surprise as Patton bounced away, and Logan shrugged at him as their gazes met.

“Let’s just hope that our last member isn’t so… ecstatic,” Logan half-mumbled.

 

That wasn’t to be the case, as less than five minutes later, the door opened yet again, this time accompanied by a voice singing something that Virgil didn’t recognize, but sounded very Disney-esque.

“I’ve been dreaming of a true love’s kiss~” the voice sang, and Virgil poked his head out to see… the prettiest boy he’d ever seen. He had a confident smile, and Virgil couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his arms as he carried a box. He swallowed dryly, then panicked in his mind as the boy’s gaze turned to him.

“Hello, I am Roman Prince, it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said charmfully.

“Ehhh…” Virgil said dumbly, shirking down.

Luckily, Patton turned Roman’s focus away from him as he came out of his room.

“Hi, I’m Patton!”

“Roman, pleasure to meet you! Now, uh, which of the rooms are available? Because this box is a little heavy.”

“Oh, well, me and Logan already took this room, so I guess you’ll be sharing with Virgil!” Patton said cheerfully.

Virgil’s eyes widened in realization as Roman began moving towards the door. Unsure of what to do, he opened the door all the way for Roman to get through. The box hit on the door, and Roman stumbled a little, and Virgil moved to catch him. Roman set the box down on the floor, looking up at Virgil’s outstretched arms. Virgil quickly pulled them back to himself, looking away nervously.

“I, uh, I took this bed and moved it around a little, hope you don’t mind. Just thought it would be a little less awkward.” Virgil said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Roman seemed to be paying little attention, opening the box. He hummed in affirmation though. He looked around at the setup. Virgil realized that his stuff was still on the desk.

“Oh, and I can move this, whichever one you want,” he said as he quickly grabbed his bags and threw them on his bed.

Roman shrugged, looking at the setup once more. “This one is by the front of my bed, plus it’s by the window, and I’m assuming this dresser is mine as well. So you can take that desk and the other one. I’ll take the right side of the closet, and you can have the left. Does that work for you?”

Virgil flushed as Roman’s gaze pierced him again. “Yeah, sure, sounds great.”

As Roman walked out to go get another box, Virgil sat on the bed, running his hands over his face. This was going to be a very long year.

 

After they were all done moving stuff in, Patton said goodbye to his moms, hugging them and promising that he’d be good. Roman’s mother had come in to help him move a couple boxes, then also hugged her son and left. Logan had finished unpacking altogether.

“Why don’t we order a pizza? We don’t have any groceries and the dining hall isn’t open yet, plus who doesn’t love pizza!” Patton suggested as they all stood awkwardly in the common area.

“That sounds like a splendid idea! Good thinking, Patton,” Roman praised, making Patton blush.

“What does everyone want?” Patton asked.

“Pepperoni is fine for me,” Roman said.

“Pineapple and ham?” Virgil suggested.

Roman gasped dramatically, clutching his heart. “What are you, a heathen? How can you like _pineapple_ on _pizza_?”

“What’s it to you, Princey? You aren’t the one eating it,” Virgil snarked back.

Roman looked affronted.

“I wouldn’t mind Virgil’s choice, actually, but I’m not rather picky,” Logan added.

Roman cast his disappointed look to Logan, who matched it with an eyebrow raise.

“Okie dokie, one pepperoni and one pineapple and ham! I’ll call them right now,” Patton said, taking out his phone.

Virgil sat in one of the stools sat under the bar table, putting his feet up onto the rungs. Roman shook his head as he took a seat on the couch, a three seater that had come with the dorm furnishings. Logan sat in the chair beside it, taking out his phone. Virgil and Roman followed suit, and they sat in silence while Patton placed the order. After Patton hung up, he sat beside Roman on the couch.

“They’ll be here in about thirty minutes!” he announced.

Virgil nodded in approval, briefly setting a glance at the other three before looking down at his phone. Without even realizing it, he realized that he pulled up his messages. He looked down at the message he’d sent to his dad earlier that day.

_‘Hey dad… I’m leaving in a few minutes for the campus. Just letting you know…’_

Under it was “Read: 3:38 pm”. Virgil’s eyes darted to the time. 5:49 pm.

He felt his heart drop as he stared at it, hot shame welling up in his stomach. He knew he shouldn’t have even tried. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. He knew he wouldn’t respond.

“Virgil, you okay, kiddo?” Patton’s voice cut through his thoughts like a knife, and he looked up from his phone quickly, his eyes widened in alarm before remembering where he was. He blinked, shaking himself out of it. He met Patton’s concerned gaze and forced some sort of smile.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said, trying to sound normal.

“Did you just call him “kiddo”?” Logan asked, one of his brows furrowed slightly at Patton.

“Oh, yeah, I just really like using it, it’s cute! Plus, I’ve always been the dad friend of my friend groups, so I guess I just got used to calling people that,” Patton explained with a shining smile.

‘ _Holy shit, he’s adorable,_ ’ Virgil thought.

“OH! What if we played a game? Like one of the ones they did at orientation where we all go around and introduced ourselves?” Patton suggested.

Virgil had hated that; he didn’t like talking in front of strangers. Or being in the center of attention.

“No offense, but that sounds awful.” Virgil did feel a little bad when Patton’s smile faltered for a moment. Maybe he shouldn’t have said it with so much bite.

“Well,” Roman said, glaring at Virgil as he too noticed the smile falter, “I think it’s a wonderful idea! Here, I’ll start. I’m Roman Prince, I’m from Tallahassee, Florida, I am a Theatre major, and I absolutely _love_ Disney.”

“Hi, I’m Patton Foster!” Patton giggled. “I’m from Atlanta, I want to major in Elementary Ed, and I love cats! But I’m allergic, so I have to love them from afar…”

Logan met Patton’s expectant gaze with an awkward cough and an adjust of his glasses before he spoke. “My name is Logan Thompson. I am actually also from Tallahassee.”

Roman gasped before asking, “Where did you go to high school? I went to Leon!”

“Maclay.” Logan said simply.

Roman’s face turned to one of disappointment and slight disgust. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why? It was a good school, with a sufficient education. I did all of my schooling there,” Logan replied.

Roman simply made another face in return. After a moment of quiet, Logan continued.

“I am planning to major in Business, with a minor in either Accounting or Chemistry. And I suppose I am rather fond of reading, particularly books that aid in study.”

“Wow,” Roman said slowly. “So basically, you are the biggest nerd to have ever existed.”

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. After a moment, Roman turned to Virgil. Virgil felt his heart begin to race, both from Roman looking at him and the oncoming panic.

“Come on, just tell us your name and stuff, it’s simple,” Roman said to Virgil.

Virgil supposed he might as well just get it over with.

“Virgil Shea, Gainesville, Florida. Undecided, hate everything.” Virgil spoke quickly and lowly, half hoping that they didn’t hear him.

“Well, alright, Emo Train, I can tell that you are fun at parties,” Roman said, rolling his eyes.

Virgil simply gave him a half-hearted shrug in return.

“Well, I’m excited to get to know all of you better, and I hope that we all become the best of friends!” Patton said cheerily, clapping his hands together.

Virgil glanced at Roman, who was staring back at him with an almost distrustful look.

‘ _Fat chance,_ ’ Virgil thought. ‘ _I just hope we don’t all hate each other…_ ’


	2. Detached

Logan wasn’t usually one for mistakes. Especially when it came to his education. The one time he did, he ended up being put on a whole separate campus than the one he was meant to go. It wasn’t the biggest deal, but it was still a slight nuisance of having to take the bus every morning to get to his classes. 

“Logan, are you alright?” 

Logan blinked out of his reverie, tearing his gaze out of the window to look at his mother, who was looking back at him. 

“Yes,” he adjusted his glasses, clearing his throat. “I was just thinking about what I would unpack first.” 

That was the end of the conversation. She turned back to driving and Logan turned back to watching the buildings pass. The dorm he’d ended up in was across the city from the main campus, and this campus was hardly an actual campus. There were a few buildings around the small town designated for the university, entered only through an issued keycard, but they were nearly indistinguishable from the restaurants and shops around them. Everything was old brick and stone, buildings that had been standing there for many, many years. Logan hadn’t gotten around to researching about them, having focused on the main campus. 

As he watched people walk around town, college students mixing with joggers and families, he supposed it was cozy and charming in its own way. He saw the sign on one of the buildings, “Columbus State University Student Housing”. He waited to feel some sort of excitement as the car parked in front of his new dorm. He didn’t feel much of anything. 

They checked in and he got his keycard, room key, and a T-shirt that he would never wear. He and his mother began carrying boxes up to the third floor, finding Logan’s room. 328. They’d put signs on the door with all of their names in some sort of Disney themed design that matched the paper cutouts of characters all along the wall. It was the arts campus, after all. Seemed like he’d been put in with three other boys named Virgil, Roman, and Patton. 

He unlocked the front door to find an empty apartment. Unsurprising, as they were some of the first to arrive at the check-in downstairs. A few more trips later, and all of his boxes were in the living room. 

“Alright, well I’m going to head home now. Should get back around four. Have fun, Logan, try to make friends and make good grades. I’ll call you later,” his mother said after the last box was set down. 

Logan simply nodded at her, only glancing back once the front door shut. He wondered if he should feel bad about not even giving her a proper goodbye. It didn’t last long as he got to work, trying to get ahead of unpacking before anyone got there. 

 

Busying himself with moving his personal belongings into his bedroom, he almost didn’t hear the door open slowly. He paused, looking up at the new arrival. It was a tall, skinny boy with purple bangs, dark eyeshadow, and a hand stitched patched jacket. Logan noticed all he had was a bookbag and a duffel bag as the boy closed the door behind him. Logan stood up straight, outstretching his hand to him. 

“Hello, I assume that you are one of my new roommates?” he questioned. 

Virgil shook it awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I’m Virgil.” 

Logan was a little surprised by the literary name, but perhaps his parents were simply fans of the arts. Either way, Logan decided not to comment on it. 

“Logan, nice to meet you.” 

Unsure of what else to say, he turned back to his boxes and began moving one into his room, while Virgil went into the other room. After a few moments, he could hear Virgil moving furniture around, but he decided to ignore it while he set a couple of small cacti on the windowsill. He was admiring the way the sunlight shone on them when he heard the door open behind him. 

A small, young-looking boy came in, cheering excitedly before spotting Logan and running over. 

Logan, on instinct, held out his hand for the boy to shake. The boy took his hand and shook it with a lot of… vigor, startling Logan a little. 

“Hi, I’m Patton, you must be my new roommate! Can I take this room?” he said in a rush, pointing to the room Logan had been moving into. 

“Uh, I’m Logan, and I suppose, it’s just me in there curren-”

“Yay!” Patton leaped up, bouncing out the door only to come back in holding a box and being followed by two women, who were also carrying boxes. 

Logan went to the kitchen, where he started putting away dishes. Patton came back out to the living room after dropping the box in his room, spotting Virgil. 

Virgil looked like he was about to duck back into his room, but Patton caught him before he could. 

“Hi, I’m Patton!” 

“Virgil,” Virgil said simply, looking sheepish. 

Patton’s face split into a grin, “Ooo, that’s a cool name!” 

“It’s like the guide in Dante’s Inferno,” Logan added, surprising himself. He hadn’t meant to join the conversation. He cleared his throat. “It’s a good read.” 

Virgil smirked at him, leaning against the doorframe. “Yeah, never heard that one before. English sucked ass those couple of weeks, the teacher kept trying to make me read it aloud since I shared the name.” 

Logan flushed a little at Virgil’s expression, a little unsure why he was feeling… almost tingly all of a sudden. Before he could think about it too much, one of the women with Patton came out of their room and asked Patton a question, while Logan adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath while no one was paying attention to him. 

Patton answered whatever she had asked before turning back to Virgil. “I hope we become the best of friends!” 

Virgil blinked in surprise as Patton bounced away, looking at Logan with a confused look. Logan shrugged at him, raising his brows at him. 

“Let’s just hope that our last member isn’t so… ecstatic,” Logan mumbled, half to himself. 

Logan finished putting away the dishes and shut the cabinet, breaking down the box and setting it beside the trash bin before going to his room. Patton looked up from where he was putting a few plushies on the bookshelf. Patton grinned at him, and Logan gave him a small, awkward smile in return, with a short nod. He began putting his books away. 

A couple minutes later, the door opened again with a boy singing loudly, and Logan looked up as Patton jumped up and bounced to the door to meet him. He heard him introduce himself as Roman Prince. He listened in for another moment before returning to flipping through “And One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”. He didn’t really see the need to join the conversation, although that wasn’t a new feeling. He was used to being alone. 

 

Waking up at 7 am was a nice change from his usual 5 am wake-up. As he was tying his usual blue tie, Patton sat up sleepily. 

“Good morning!” he said cheerily before yawning and stretching. 

“Good morning,” Logan responded absentmindedly as he straightened his tie and adjusted his glasses in the mirror Patton had hung on the door. 

Patton got up and followed him out to the kitchen, his hoodie too big and falling over his hands. Logan wasn’t sure if Patton was wearing shorts underneath, but thought it would be rude to stare or to ask. So he simply opened the door and started to leave. 

“Where are you going?” Patton asked, sounding almost disappointed. 

“Oh, uh, I was simply going down to the mart downstairs to get breakfast,” Logan said, looking back at Patton’s pout. 

“But I was gonna make breakfast for everyone to celebrate our first day together,” Patton said sadly. 

Logan pointed out the obvious flaw in that plan, “We only have three leftover slices of pizza from last night in here.” 

“Oh…” Patton pursed his lips as he looked around as if suddenly food would jump out at him. Then he lit up, “Then we can go down to the mart together and get ingredients!” 

Logan nodded, “That sounds adequate.” 

Patton cheered, albeit quietly as to not wake the other room. He went towards the door, and Logan stopped him. 

“Patton, you can’t possibly be planning to go outside wearing just a hoodie…” he berated. 

“I have shorts on under it,” Patton said, pulling the hoodie up to his stomach to demonstrate. 

Logan flushed, quickly looking away before he could get more than a glimpse of Patton’s short shorts and bare stomach. 

“Still, you must get properly dressed if we are to go out in public,” Logan said in exasperation. 

Patton huffed dramatically, but went back to their shared room to change. Logan, giving him his privacy, took a seat by the bar counter and looked at his email. A couple of welcome messages from the school to his university email, and a newsletter from an astronomy website he follows. He looked through it to see what constellations and planets could be expected in the night sky in the coming week. 

“Ready!” Patton said cheerily, a little loud before he covered his own mouth while looking at the other bedroom. 

Upon being sure he hadn’t accidentally woken the other two, he looked back at Logan expectantly. Logan stood and put his phone in his pocket, following Patton out the door. He locked it behind him as Patton waited, bouncing on his feet. 

They took the stairs, and Patton bounded down them, jumping down the last three steps at every turn of them. 

“You are going to hurt yourself doing that,” Logan pointed out as Patton landed with a loud thud on his feet. 

“No I won’t, I always do that!” Patton giggled back, looking up at him as he waited for Logan to reach the bottom. 

Going out the front door of the lobby, they went inside the little store next door. It was just like any gas station mart, only without the gas or the probably inedible hot food. Plus, it was catered more to college students, Logan noted as he realized that this shelf had ramen noodles, notebooks, and condoms all in the same place. He quickly turned his gaze to Patton, who had run to the next aisle and was holding up a box of pancake mix and a bottle of syrup triumphantly. 

“We’re gonna make pancakes for breakfast!” he said determinedly as Logan walked to him. 

‘ _ Well, he’s just adorable, _ ’ Logan thought as Patton skipped across the store to the fridges to get milk, eggs, and butter. 

Patton came back, shoving everything into Logan’s arms. Logan was startled, nearly dropping the milk jug as Patton went over to the boxes of cereal with a huge grin. He grabbed Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms, much to Logan’s displeasure. 

“Patton, those can hardly be counted as a healthy breakfast,” he scolded. 

Patton shrugged, “But they are tasty!”

Logan rolled his eyes, but it was Patton’s own choice, so he didn’t stop him from taking them up to the tired looking girl working the register.

“I think that should be enough for now, and we can go to the grocery store later to stock up everything else when Roman and Virgil wake up,” Patton said happily. 

He paid and they decided to take the elevator up to their floor. Logan had never really been good at conversation, so he was a little glad that Patton was distracting himself by humming a song. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Patton was wearing something under his shirt, like a plain white tank top, but with a different fabric than Logan had ever seen on one. It looked somewhat like Spandex, and Logan couldn’t help but wonder why Patton was wearing it. The elevator stopped before he could think to ask it aloud, however, and they went back to their dorm. 

As Patton began getting the ingredients out, Logan put the cereal boxes in the pantry. They looked very desolate amongst the rest of the empty shelves. He shut the door and turned back to Patton, who was getting a couple of pans from the lower cabinets as quietly as he could. Logan stood there, unsure of what he should do. He supposed that Patton expected him to help, and it would potentially be rude to not help. Patton looked up and seemed to sense his uncertainty. 

“Can you get a mixing bowl down? You put them on the top shelf, so you’ll be able to reach them better,” Patton asked as he grabbed the pancake mix and began reading the instructions. 

Logan nodded in affirmation as he opened the cabinet and reached up to get said mixing bowl, grabbing the largest and putting the other two smaller ones back on the shelf. As he closed the cabinet and set the bowl on the counter, Patton handed him the open bag of batter mix. 

“Two cups of that will make 14 pancakes, but we’ll double it, and we might have some left over.” Patton said happily. “Depends on how hungry everyone is, I guess.” 

Logan stared at the bag for a moment, unsure of what to do. 

“So add four cups to the bowl?” he asked. 

“Yup! Then four eggs and two cups of milk, and then you’ll whisk it until it turns into batter!” Patton affirmed as he found the right measuring cup and the rainbow colored whisk he’d brought. 

Logan set about measuring everything out as he was told, and Patton showed him how to crack an egg after he messed up and got eggshells in the mix. After getting said eggshells out, of course. 

“Don’t want crunchy pancakes, silly! Well, actually, I guess you could if you were making a special recipe with like… bacon. Or Pop Rocks. Ooh, that would be fun!” Patton said as he cleanly cracked the third egg in. 

Logan was too focused on Patton’s technique to respond with anything more than a strange look at that. 

Patton started heating up the pan with butter as Logan whisked, and Patton cheered him on, reminding him to make sure to get the bottom. Logan couldn’t help but smile at the other boy, who met it with an even bigger grin. Something felt a little funny in Logan’s stomach, he dismissed it quickly as he went back to whisking. 

Once Patton had approved the consistency of the mixture, he took the bowl from Logan, setting it beside the stove. He quickly swiped his finger along the side to taste the batter, his face lighting up. 

“You shouldn’t do that, you could get sick from the raw eggs,” Logan said. 

Patton waved it off, “I always taste the batter! It’s yummy and you gotta know how you did.” He shot a quick smile at Logan before ladling a portion of the batter into the heated pan. 

Out of a job, Logan stood against the counter and observed. He realized his heart was beating faster than normal as he watched Patton sway to a nonexistent song. He looked away for a moment, trying to steady himself. He wasn’t used to this… elation. Most of his joy came from reading a good book, not this kind of… almost domestic event with a near stranger. It was so different. And it was only the first day; then what would the rest of the semester be like? 

His mind beginning to race, Logan looked around the room for something to talk about. Finding nothing of interest, his eyes fell back onto Patton, and the fabric hidden beneath his shirt. Curiosity got the best of him. 

“What’s that you’re wearing under your shirt?” 

Patton nearly jumped, although Logan was unsure why; he hadn’t spoken loudly enough to startle him, surely. 

“Oh, uh, well…” 

Logan stood up straighter as Patton began to fumble with the pan, looking nervous. 

“It’s a… binder,” Patton said, looking at Logan, seemingly to gauge a reaction. 

Logan, however, was just confused. 

“Like… a school binder? I don’t understand,” Logan said, furrowing his brows. 

“Oh…” Patton looked back at the pan, flipping it over before he spoke again. “Well, do you know what transgender means?” 

Logan thought for a moment. “Well, “trans” comes from Latin, meaning “across, over, or beyond”, and gender is obviously the sex of a person, so I would assume it means something like… Across gender? Possibly?” 

Patton let out a snort, “Well, I guess. Transgender means that someone identifies as a gender that they weren’t born as.” 

Logan pondered this for a moment before nodding in understanding. 

“I’m transgender… I’m AFAB, or Assigned Female at Birth. But I realized that I was a boy in high school, and started transitioning. The binder is to give me a flat chest so that I pass in public,” Patton explained, not looking at Logan until the very end, to see what his reaction was. 

Logan found that this only raised more questions for him, but he didn’t want to accidentally offend Patton. 

“I suppose that might explain why you look so young…” Logan said, immediately hoping that that wasn’t hurtful. 

Patton smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, I’ve always been shorter than most people, and I haven’t been able to go on T yet.” 

“T?” Logan asked. 

“Testosterone. You can get it from a doctor, but I still haven’t been approved for it yet. Hopefully soon though, then my voice will drop and I’ll look more like any other guy.” Patton said, his voice filled with hope and longing. 

Logan was unsure of what to say. They fell into a silence, and Logan could still tell that Patton was nervous. 

“So… What classes are you taking this semester?” 

Patton seemed relieved at the topic change, and happily went into detail about his schedule and his excitement to start learning. Logan listened with earnest, going into his own schedule as Patton kept the pancake stack rising. 

 

By noon, the other two had woken up and they’d eaten their pancakes at the little coffee table in the living room. Patton had suggested they all go shopping, and Roman offered to drive them to Target. Virgil decided he had nothing better to do, and Logan decided he would stay behind. The morning had already worn him out, he wasn’t sure if he could handle another trip with the rest of them at that point. 

So while they all took off, Logan went back into his room, sitting at his desk and opening his laptop. Going to Google, he started his search for “transgender”, finding dozens of news articles on the first page. None of them looked good, however, and he skipped over them. Scrolling down, he found some articles about reference guides and explanations of the terms used, so he opened those in new tabs and began to read. 

Somewhere between articles, he wondered why he was so determined to learn this. Was it simply not to offend? Was it because it was simply a new term he’d never encountered before? Or was it because he wanted to understand Patton better? 

He shook the thought off. It was simply an interesting topic to educate himself about, a new fact about the world he had been ignorant of. Nothing more. 

Nothing more. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: just cause I can, this is set at CSU (Columbus State University in Columbus, GA) on the Riverpark campus, cause I went there for a year and so it's the place I know the best. And both Logan and Roman are from Tallahassee, FL, simply because that's where I've lived all my life and if I ever want to go into it, I can pull my knowledge from my memory rather than trusting google searches to do all the work for me.


End file.
